Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

March 28 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Tuesday:

** China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd has bought a 5 percent stake in U.S. electric car maker Tesla Inc for $1.78 billion, the latest investment by a Chinese internet company in the potentially lucrative market for self-driving vehicles and related services.

** Acquisitive Chinese conglomerate HNA Group is in talks to buy a controlling stake in the owner of the publisher of Forbes magazine, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

** Telecom Italia is working with Rothschild to help it to find a partner to fund part of its broadband business in Italy, three sources close to the matter said.

** VTB Capital, the investment banking arm of Russia’s second-largest bank VTB, has moved into the agricultural commodities business, with a focus on the Black Sea and Central Europe, its head of global commodities Atanas Djumaliev told Reuters.

** German energy group RWE has not concrete plans for M&A activity at the moment and would have a very disciplined and selective approach should any suitable assets become available, finance chief Markus Krebber.

** Barclays is in exclusive talks to sell its stake in Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe to Malawi’s First Merchant Bank, First Merchant Bank said in a statement on its website.

** Aviva Plc is exploring a sale of its Friends Provident International unit, which offers life assurance and investment products, in a deal that could raise between $500 million and $700 million, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

** Bain Capital Private Equity has decided not to proceed with the acquisition of Belgian packaging company Resilux due to an anti-trust ruling in Germany, the investment company said.

** Japanese beer maker Asahi Group Holdings Ltd said it will take on 7.4 billion euros ($8 billion) in bank loans to finance its acquisition of European assets from Anheuser-Busch InBev SAC NV.

** China Southern Airlines Co Ltd said it will sell a small stake to American Airlines Group Inc in a $200 million deal that will give the carriers better access to the world’s two largest travel markets.

** British housebuilder Redrow said it did not intend to make an offer for rival Bovis just over two weeks after its approach was rejected as too low, leaving one potential bidder for the ailing firm.

** Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco) and Chubu Electric Power Co said they had signed an agreement to integrate their fossil fuel power plants under their JERA Co joint venture.

** Akzo Nobel, the Dutch paints and coatings maker trying to avoid being taken over by larger U.S. rival PPG Industries, said it would detail its strategy to remain independent on April 19.

** The new head of Spain’s Banco Popular, Emilio Saracho, is in talks to sell the lender’s property portfolio and also a stake to Libra Group, online newspaper El Confidencial reported.

** Strauss Coffee has agreed to buy back a 25.1 percent stake in the company held by buyout firm TPG Capital Management for 257 million euros ($279 million), its parent company Strauss Group said.

** Australian sandalwood plantation group Quintis Ltd said its managing director has resigned and will consider making a takeover offer for the company together with an unnamed international group.

** Brazilian miner Vale SA said on Monday it has wrapped up the sale of a stake in Mozambique’s Moatize coal project to Japan’s Mitsui & Co Ltd and received an initial payment of $733 million, the company said in a security filing.

** Investment management firm Red Mountain Capital Partners LLC said in a letter on Monday that it is pushing apparel and accessories maker Deckers Outdoor Corp’s board to explore a sale of the company.

** Russia’s biggest bank Sberbank is selling its subsidiary in Ukraine to a consortium of investors, which include Norvik Bank (Latvia) and a Belarussian private company, Sberbank said in a statement on Monday.

** Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants Inc said on Monday it would buy Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen for $780 million in an all-cash transaction.

** Bank holding company Home BancShares Inc said it would acquire regional lender Stonegate Bank in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $778.4 million.

** A joint bid by German cement producers HeidelbergCement and Schwenk for Cemex’s Croatian business faces a European Union veto, two sources said.

** CVC is selling German metering and energy management group Ista, which could be worth up to 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion), sources told Reuters.

** Kidney dialysis company DaVita, Inc has won antitrust approval to buy rival Renal Ventures Management LLC on condition that it sell five clinics, the Federal Trade Commission said.

** Milestone Apartments Real Estate Investment Trust said that its unitholders approved the company’s takeover by U.S. private investment firm Starwood Capital Group for about $1.3 billion. (Compiled by Laharee Chatterjee and Komal Khettry in Bengaluru)